Pattaya: The New Walking Street - so much more than just cable burying, says mayor

[Orton Rd]

I am 100 kilo meters from sin city, it does not need to bother me, but it must have bothered the law makers in 1996. I imagine section 9 may apply to you? There is almost no activity there of course now, which is good

[Dolmance]

When I saw the headline, I thought it was a Thai version of 'laying pipe.'

[DUNROAMIN]

Tourist back in droves towards the end of the year. Pipe dreams again.

[D M G]

Looks a lot like Miami

[mal2018]

What's this? Elephant trekking? ????

[chang1]

3 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

what if they applied the 1996 law which is about the suppression of prostitution ? not only providing as it does penalties for prostitution, but for soliciting, pimping and just about everything else to do with it. People used to get pleasure from bear baiting and the sex trade does affect other people. It's mired in criminality, exploitation, drugs, depression and ill health. 

Mongers should read it

 

Section 7. Any person who advertises or agrees to advertise, induces or introduces by means of documents or printed matters, or by any means makes known to the public in a manner apparently indicative of importunity or solicitation for the prostitution of himself ,herself or another person shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of six months to two years or to a fine of ten thousand to forty thousand Baht or to both.

Section 8. Any person who, in order to gratify his or her sexual desire or that of another person, has sexual intercourse or acts otherwise against a person over fifteen but not over eighteen years of age in a prostitution establishment, with or without his or her consent, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of one to three years and to a fine of twenty thousand to sixty thousand Baht.

If the offence under paragraph one is committed in relation to a child not over fifteen years of age, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of two to six years and to a fine of forty thousand to one hundred twenty thousand Baht.

If the act under paragraph one is committed in relation to one's own spouse, and not to gratify the sexual desire of another person, the offender is not guilty.

Section 9. Any person who procures, seduces or takes away any person for the prostitution of such person, even with her or his consent and irrespective of whether the various acts which constitute an offence are committed within or outside the Kingdom, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of one to ten years and to a fine of twenty thousand to two hundred thousand Baht.

What an uneducated, narrow minded  view. You must have had a very sheltered life. No-one can deny prostitution has some very bad sides to it including in Thailand. I have spent many hours researching bars and spoken to many bar girls so know a lot of the good and bad things that go on. 

What is the alternative - planting rice for little reward.

What are the rewards - decent money and the chance to snare a relatively or even very wealthy husband. Money for the family. 

What are the risks - very little but they can be very bad.

Is it a bad life - no worse than a normal job if they are mentally up to it.

Most girls have at least one child to support which reduces their chances of getting a decent Thai husband. 

It is not suitable for most girls but it certainly is not that bad when compared to the alternatives most of these girls have. Tourist bars are a fraction of Thai prostitution and I doubt are any worse than karaoke bars. 

Instead of just taking the moral high ground do your own research and put yourself in their position. Bars have lifted many families out of desperate poverty and helped many to be happy but there has also been many exploited and harmed as well. Remember, people are also hurt in normal jobs whether physically or mentally. I slipped on ice at work yesterday and smashed my head on the ground while doing some welding. I bet you don't want to stop people welding though. I wish I could earn a month's wages just for sleeping one night with my choice of one of the women who came to my pub. 

I doubt much has changed but I  am out of touch now as I have been married over 10 years and I don't think our 6 year old would want to sit in a bar at night  just yet - but he does love the Hooters (bar) near Nana plaza. 

 

Edit - I  forgot to mention, that law is not generally enforced for a reason - money, lots of it.

If it was enforced it would not help anyone as it would just drive prostitution underground meaning it would be more unsafe for everyone. 

Edited February 14, 2021 by chang1

[Pheat123]

On 2/13/2021 at 10:22 AM, Orton Rd said:

They need to bury the sex trade as well

RU a virgin?

[Pilotman]

3 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

what if they applied the 1996 law which is about the suppression of prostitution ? not only providing as it does penalties for prostitution, but for soliciting, pimping and just about everything else to do with it. People used to get pleasure from bear baiting and the sex trade does affect other people. It's mired in criminality, exploitation, drugs, depression and ill health. 

Mongers should read it

 

Section 7. Any person who advertises or agrees to advertise, induces or introduces by means of documents or printed matters, or by any means makes known to the public in a manner apparently indicative of importunity or solicitation for the prostitution of himself ,herself or another person shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of six months to two years or to a fine of ten thousand to forty thousand Baht or to both.

Section 8. Any person who, in order to gratify his or her sexual desire or that of another person, has sexual intercourse or acts otherwise against a person over fifteen but not over eighteen years of age in a prostitution establishment, with or without his or her consent, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of one to three years and to a fine of twenty thousand to sixty thousand Baht.

If the offence under paragraph one is committed in relation to a child not over fifteen years of age, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of two to six years and to a fine of forty thousand to one hundred twenty thousand Baht.

If the act under paragraph one is committed in relation to one's own spouse, and not to gratify the sexual desire of another person, the offender is not guilty.

Section 9. Any person who procures, seduces or takes away any person for the prostitution of such person, even with her or his consent and irrespective of whether the various acts which constitute an offence are committed within or outside the Kingdom, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of one to ten years and to a fine of twenty thousand to two hundred thousand Baht.

haha that made me laugh.  So what?  Nobody in Authority takes any notice of  that law.  

[Orton Rd]

5 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

haha that made me laugh.  So what?  Nobody in Authority takes any notice of  that law.  

They said that in other countries with large sex industries as well, until somebody decided to put the law into action. Could easily happen here, the laws are already in place. Look how puritanical things have gotten here in the last 20 years with regard to the selling and advertising of drink. 

[Rimmer]

Troll post and a reply removed

[Pilotman]

37 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

They said that in other countries with large sex industries as well, until somebody decided to put the law into action. Could easily happen here, the laws are already in place. Look how puritanical things have gotten here in the last 20 years with regard to the selling and advertising of drink. 

It won't happen in my life time.  Maybe it should, but it won't, not until the underlying economic and social issue are resolved and there is currently no will to do that. 

[morrobay]

15 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

It won't happen in my life time.  Maybe it should, but it won't, not until the underlying economic and social issue are resolved and there is currently no will to do that. 

It is my understanding that is only soliciting for prostitution  (pimping) that is illegal.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Thailand#:~:text=Prostitution is not illegal in,portion of the national GDP.

[eastlight]

4 hours ago, Pilotman said:

I was last there about a year later than you.  I was not uncomfortable, just bored by it all.  Just looked a sad, seedy and down market dump.

The best time in Pattaya was in the late 80s. The silly name Walking Street had not been invented and this area was simply known as South Pattaya. Anybody who was here at this time will remember just what fun it was on a 24 hour a day basis. What is left is now planned to be totally destroyed by the clueless. 

[eastlight]

3 hours ago, chang1 said:

That would make plenty of room for multistorey hotels. A great way to kill off anything of interest. Maybe widen the roads a little so that they can be lined with pretty Chinese tour buses. 

Pattaya could be like Miami that should have the Americans queuing up to stay - or just maybe they will just go to Miami. There is a big market for that kind of tourist and they have a lot of choices that are much more suitable. Pattaya caters to a niche tourist who has very few options so why not concentrate on that instead? 

Remove big hotels and shopping malls, create small streets filled with seedy bars and of course make a nice quiet natural looking beach. A place where men can enjoy nights out without families, snobs or Chinese to spoil the atmosphere. 

Your description is just what the Pattaya I visited in 1985 was actually like.

[chang1]

6 minutes ago, eastlight said:

Your description is just what the Pattaya I visited in 1985 was actually like.

Same as Lamai in 2000. I knew the good times were over when McDonald's came and every way to get to the beach was built upon. I have not been to Samui for about 10 years so need to see what it is like after covid.

[phantomfiddler]

If something is not broken, don't fix it ????

[bangon04]

On 2/13/2021 at 11:15 AM, bluesofa said:

I imagined something like this:

TAT is dreaming about this:

[Captor]

On 2/13/2021 at 11:17 AM, rooster59 said:

Pattaya: The New Walking Street - so much more than just cable burying, says mayor

 

Image: Sophon Cable TV

 

An upbeat Mayor Sontaya Khunpluem in Pattaya has said that the work being done on Walking Street is so much more than just cable burying. 

 

He's going to transform the street into something "suay ngaam" (beautiful) that the resort can be proud of.

 

While he stopped just short of calling it the eighth wonder of the modern world he was buoyant with optimism.

 

The road surface was going to be completely renewed, he said and that included the drain and pipe covers. 

 

No stone would be left unturned (well, you know what we mean) to upgrade the ENTIRE length of the street.

 

Not just that.

 

A study is being done to install a domed roof over the street that will keep everyone dry and enable all sorts of activities to happen there.

 

All that is missing are the tourists, and those will be back later in the year in their familiar droves. 

 

For now the mayor encouraged visitors to take pictures of the street as it looks at the moment.

 

Then come back at the end of the year and take some more.

 

The before and afters will really show what he's talking about!

 

Mayor Sontaya was talking to Sophon Cable TV who published pictures of him giving a thumbs up by a large hole with brightly clad ladies on the left and officials in more somber tones on the right. 

 

Critics online - especially expats in Pattaya on Thaivisa - have expressed a degree of skepticism about the plans.

 

One or two even unkindly liked the mayor's efforts to putting lipstick on a pig.

 

Just you wait!

 

Source: Sophon Cable TV

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2021-02-13

 

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And the air pollution? If not taking care of that the same amount of tourists will NOT come back. So easy to fix....

[Harveyboy]

On 2/13/2021 at 5:48 PM, stretch5163 said:

yes why   this has kept  Patts  busy  fed people for.many years...??

 

[DBath]

“Lipstick on a pig”. Yep, somebody pretty much hit the nail on the head with that one. 

[Cobby007]

To be honest it’s a total wast of time all will happen will be the same as always 

grand opening all looks good 

then after a few weeks it starts to decline 

and creeps back to the dirty seedy place it has always been 

As us Farang say 

 

TIT. ( THIS IS THAILAND)

????????????

[Pique Dard]

 

On 2/13/2021 at 11:17 AM, rooster59 said:

One or two even unkindly liked the mayor's efforts to putting lipstick on a pig.

hope the pig was a female

[scammed]

6 hours ago, Captor said:

And the air pollution? If not taking care of that the same amount of tourists will NOT come back. So easy to fix....

you aint seen nothing yet if they build a roof

on a road with combustion engines

[kiwikeith]

On 2/13/2021 at 11:22 PM, Orton Rd said:

They need to bury the sex trade as well

Do not worry the Chinese investors have it well planned, there will be high class Chinese spas incorporated into the hotels above them. There will be Chinese restaurants, gold shops and money exchanges.

The beach front will provide parking for the tour busses the whole thing will be a pleasure to the investors.

 

In the mean time when the tourists start flocking back the new walking st of old will rebuild itself in a different area, I mean you can't expect to hog all that prime parking space on the beach just to hang out in a girly bar .

Look what happened to Pratunam in BK, it shifted a few blocks to Sukhomvit,no one hardly knows it was the red light area during the Vietnam war.

[jacko45k]

21 hours ago, redwood1 said:

I cant think of a single positive thing that would come from putting a roof over walking street....If anyone can think of one I would sure like to hear it....

I would not get wet between GGBs on rainy days.... huge problem maybe once a year!

[oznomad]

On 2/14/2021 at 7:10 AM, Kerryd said:

drain all that water from the roof to the sewers without causing a massive backwash

I just learned that having a roof causes more rain to fall.

[kiwikeith]

14 minutes ago, oznomad said:

I just learned that having a roof causes more rain to fall.

The Chinese have it covered, they are going to build a water purifier plant and all those new downpipes will send rainwater to the plant which they will then bottle and sell to the Chinese tours.

You might even get a boutique brewery making Walking St Pure Ale, made for pure Phuket rain water.

[eeworldwide]

Pattaya MUST adapt to the sea change that is occurring and whilst some may lament the demise of the old sex-saturated pattaya, we must remember that those days are now over. The sex trade will never exist in Thailand the way it did before. Never.  It is just a matter of time before all the old haunts are shuttered, sold and re-purposed in order to save their owners from a certain bankruptcy if they don't.

 

2021 is over in terms of returning tourism and because of that, many of these sex-focussed establishments countrywide, are going to simply disappear.
Thailand is in for a very difficult time of adapting, not just because of covid, but because of an education system which is deeply flawed and skewed to actually fuel the sex trade in some ways, and certainly skewed to keep people on lower incomes and to focus on trade that benefits visitors.

Even without the sex trade, and with renovation happening to Pattaya, it will be a very long time before any major investment into  a revitalised infrastructure is made good, because Covid19 is a  long way from being over, and there are many hurdles to be overcome in terms of international travel that would support arrivals in their millions.

Thailand itself has to come to some kind of compromise with quarantine and/or vaccination policies for visitors, and we're still in the early days of confirming long term efficacy in terms of vaccination. 

With such a massive hiatus disrupting the rhythm and flow of nightlife and sextrade, I can't see how it's possible for it all to just start up again at the drop of a hat - a lot of girls will be finding new ways to survive, and accommodating and servicing 10 fat farangs a day, whilst perhaps lucrative, is not exactly the Harvard of career choices once you've had a break from it....

[redwood1]

Pattaya monorail project delayed by plan to move high-speed train station...

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/pattaya-monorail-project-delayed-by-plan-to-move-high-speed-train-station-out-of-city-343624

 

Well I guess this will throw a wet rag on the Bali Hi  walking street plans...

[redwood1]

No Monorail= No need for a new port= No need for all the other dumb changes like a roof over walking street= Walking street should be ok in the future....

 

All those redevelopment plans are now up in smoke.....Its time to just repaint the blue parking lot again and call it a day....redevelopment finished....

Edited February 15, 2021 by redwood1